Virtual reality brings new vision to workplace training

  

Imagine you have been transported to Mars as a robot avatar.

Around you in this virtual reality (VR), computer-simulated world are other people also walking around as robots.

Your mission is to work together to overcome a number of challenges, and escape the planet in a space pod. The mission is only successful if all the robots manage to get away, and not if one or two blast off on their own.

This isn't a video game though. Rather it is a training session where you and your co-workers are all wearing VR headsets.

As awaydays go, it does sound more fun than sitting in a conference room for hours on end, while your bosses tell you about your organisation's exciting plans for the next year.

The trip to Mars is a team-building exercise, named Apollo, that was built by a UK firm called Jenson8, which specialises in VR-based training platforms.

Each workplace team gets three or four attempts in the simulation to figure out how to escape. And participants can experience Apollo from different perspectives - in a leadership role, as a standard robot, or as an observer.

Afterwards, when the VR goggles have been taken off, the group is asked to discuss the different dynamics that helped them fail or succeed.

"When people are in this immersive experience, it takes away many preconceived notions that they carry with them when they're in the workplace," says Bryan Barnes, head of research and development at Jenson8. "And it allows them to show up as themselves rather than trying to play that work character."

He adds that participants can gain a greater understanding of their role in the group, for better or worse. And that this can lead to honest conversations that help to build a more successful team.

Pandemic lockdowns introduced millions of workers to home working and video meetings, and now training is changing as well.

The regular Zoom calls since March 2020 made us all realise that we don't actually need to be be in the same room for meetings. And it is now increasingly the same for training courses.

Add the increased development of VR technology, and a growing number of firms are asking staff to put on a pair of VR goggles when it is time for them to have an awayday, or have their skills and knowledge refreshed.